[QRT] 9U4M – Burundi

NOVEMBER 16 @ 1720z — As expected, virtually all our antennas were dismantled this afternoon. I’m glad we were able to go past the 1000 QSO 160m mark last night even though the band was closed at only 0000 UTC. I understand that the “dupes” were not uploaded on Club Log (do not ask me why). Taking into account this non-negligible part, we should therefore be around 60,000 QSO. Tonight, the 21 operators will have their closing meal together with the hotel manager and some local authorities. A page is about to be shot. 73, F2DX Patrick op 9U4M

NOVEMBER 15 @ 2100Z — Tomorrow (Nov 16th) from 12 UTC we will dismount most antennas and stations. We should just keep a 40m antenna for SSB and 30m for CW (to be confirmed). It will still pass the stages of customs in the other direction, and therefore be early at the airport the next morning. Given the problems encountered in the first days, and the vagaries of propagation, we can however be satisfied with the result. I hope all those who needed it could contact us on various bands / modes. And to say that I still need 9U on 160m … but we cannot have the butter and the pie, and so it is with each shipment. The excellent connection of the hotel has allowed me to regularly give you news; it is also a positive point. My last night shift will be from 01 to 04 UT tonight. If only the propagation on low bands could be more fun than yesterday … 73, F2DX Patrick op 9U4M

NOVEMBER 14 @ 0645Z — The days go by but the spread is never the same from one day to the next.On low bands for example, it can be all good one day and closed or very noisy the next day.Tonight, 40m seemed exceptional;I was there from 16:00 to 19:00 UT and I rarely saw a pileup of such intensity, proof that we had to hear us louder than usual.This is so and we can unfortunately nothing despite a deployment antennas consequent.We made today the traditional group photos. We are now in the home stretch. 73, F2DX Patrick op 9U4M

NOVEMBER 11 @ 1630Z — Good signals and big pileup today on 15m and 17m CW. However, the stations were stopped for a good time because of a big storm. It also rained all day. Yesterday, we moved and extended the Beverage (BOG) EU / USA because she was deaf. It was not so useless because I was able to do more than 200 QSO over 160m last night (including about 30 JA but nothing US side). Apparently our signal is ok. We take the same and we start again tonight! So far there has been very little QSO on 80 CW due in particular to an incompatibility with the 40m station. Some choke-baluns have been made. Let’s hope that it solves the problem. 73, F2DX Patrick op 9U4M.

NOVEMBER 9 — “Thank you for your comments, but do not compare 3C and 9U. We are not in West Africa and not at the seaside. Moreover, solar indexes are not in our favour. Last night for example, 3C1L was the only station I heard on 80m and none of its correspondents was QSA! That said, all Europeans are not housed in the same sign because some we gratify “loud” and “strong” and it is also seen in reception. We worked until midnight and finished this morning. With the exception of the 6m, all antennas are now operational. The QSOs this morning on 15m were made with the vertical 30m because the quad was not yet mounted. I can not hide the fact that we have regained our spirits, as this history of stuck goods began to become worrying. The 40m worked well last night (on a single vertical instead of 3). We will try the lower bands tonight. PS / Do not focus too much on logs “in real time”. Many QSOs are “forgotten” but are reloaded once a day from each PC”. 73, Patrick F2DX op 9U4M 09/11/2017 17H00 GMT

NOVEMBER 8 — “The Team have been busy with antennas this afternoon. They are almost ready for the late shift and currently have a Spiderbeam on 20m, 4 Square on 40m and 30M RTTY should also be available later this evening. Some people have addressed concerns about the log on Clublog. We will be updating our log later then we hope any issues will have been corrected. Thanks for your patience”. Ant IZ8CCW, 9U4M Team Leader.

NOVEMBER 8 — From F2DX op #9U4M @1715z. “We have just recovered finally our material! It’s night but we are attacking tonight the assembly of our antennas. Stay tuned.”

NOVEMBER 7 @ 16:00 UTC: Material blocked until tomorrow morning!

Team 9U4M

NOVEMBER 7 — We have not yet recovered the customs material. After multiple negotiations, it is possible that we have it at the end of the day. If this is the case, we have prepared large projectors to be able to work at night with the installation of antennas. Meanwhile, we still have some active stations (with the transceivers that were in our suitcases) without amp and some bits of wire as antennas. Not having much else to do, we have already installed the receiving antennas CW (BOGs) but they have not been tested because of course it lacks the coax! I hope to give you better news soon .. 73, Patrick F2DX @9U4M